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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477170">Chess Master</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsarinaTorment/pseuds/TsarinaTorment'>TsarinaTorment</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>International Rescue &amp; Relief [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Thunderbirds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Chess, Family, Fluff, Gen, irrelief</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:21:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>728</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477170</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsarinaTorment/pseuds/TsarinaTorment</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Gordon has a prized possession.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>International Rescue &amp; Relief [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671880</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Chess Master</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribbles97/gifts">Scribbles97</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A fanfiction written for #irrelief, using scribbles97's prompt "John and Gordon and having stuff in common"</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gordon had a prized possession. Well, in all honesty he had a few, but there was one that drew envious glances from his brothers – brothers, who had all been told under no uncertain terms that their grubby paws were not allowed to touch it. Scott had tried, once. Gordon's retaliation had made a lasting enough impression that none of them had dared attempt it again.</p><p>There was one brother exempt from the 'no brothers can touch it' rule. John, on his rare Earthside stays, almost always gravitated towards it at some point during the visit, not bothering to hide his smug satisfaction to the other three as he breezed into Gordon's domain to be welcomed with open arms.</p><p>Chess was at this point almost a family tradition. They all played, summoning the holographic board and prodding incorporeal manifestations of the pieces into the desired positions. None of them were <em>bad</em> players, although Alan was still struggling with the concept that pawns were often vitally important and that sometimes sacrificing the queen was the best move to make, but amongst their number was an undisputed champion.</p><p>It was not John, and Brains preferred to play with MAX rather than other humans.</p><p>From an outsider's perspective it seemed unlikely, to say the least, but when it came to chess, Gordon Tracy had an uncanny sense for it and could defeat any of his brothers with varying levels of ease. Alan was a walk in the park, Scott and Virgil put up a fight that was always rendered futile, while John at least posed a challenge – occasionally, John had even managed to get Gordon's King to keel over in surrender.</p><p>No-one knew where Gordon had got it, but pride of place in his room was held by The Chess Set. Not a virtual one, spat out of a holographic projector in tints of orange or green, but a wooden one. The board was carved by hand into a chequer of dark and light brown tiles and weighty to hold, while each piece was uniquely shaped into dramatic icons of pawns, rooks, knights, bishops and the reigning kings and queens. It was a piece of beauty, appreciated most keenly by Virgil but viewed in awe by all his brothers.</p><p>Gordon refused to let any of them touch it. They had to earn it, he said, Cheshire grin in place as he stared down four displeased brothers when he produced it out of nowhere one day. Bribery, a currency worth more than gold in the family, fell flat and even edible food couldn't sway him. Chore-swapping, even being a slave for a day wouldn't move Gordon from his position. It was easy, he said, eyes glinting in the shared knowledge that for them, it wouldn't be easy at all.</p><p>They just had to beat him at chess. Just once; a single victory was all they'd need to earn the right to play on the physical set rather than the boring virtual.</p><p>Scott, Virgil and Alan were still trying, sending dark looks of envy to John when he came Earthside and the set came out to play, ginger and blond heads bent over it in concentration as occasional soft <em>clunks</em> of wood-meet-wood signified a move being made.</p><p>Insult was added to injury when EOS appeared, challenging Gordon to a game and defeating him on her first try. Whatever other opinions the AI and aquanaut held for each other, chess was a neutral area and Gordon accepted his defeat with grace and a laugh as his virtual King tipped over. Ever the opportunist, Alan had asked if that meant EOS was allowed to use The Chess Set, or if her lack of arms would reduce her to the virtual chessboard forevermore.</p><p>A defeat was a defeat. Gordon allowed EOS to play against him using the set, with a human medium for moving the pieces. With John up on in Five much of the time, Alan had offered himself as said medium. EOS had declined, sharing a laugh with Gordon and John – all of whom had seen through the transparent ploy to get his own hands on The Chess Set.</p><p>Grandma was selected instead. None of the other brothers dared quibble.</p><p>The Chess Set was sacred. No short cuts, said Gordon with a devilish grin as he set up the board in preparation for John's arrival.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Gordon spends a lot of time playing chess in TOS, even though we don't see him play it in TAG (likewise, I don't recall seeing John play in TOS but we do in TAG) so this has a lot of inspiration from that.</p><p>IRRelief is an amazing idea and bless Gumnut for coming up with it! For those that don't know, it's a collection of prompts anyone can add to and use on tumblr, with a focus on fluff, to give us something to do while we're stuck indoors. <a href="https://nutty.gumnut.net/irrelief/">Full details are here</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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